Section II Books . . . For All Ages
28. HIGH SCHOOL READING LIST:
GIFTED STUDENTS
There are many lists for high interest/low reading levels, but sometimes gifted students
are neglected. Here's an excellent, briefly annotated reading list for gifted high school
students, including both fiction and nonfiction. See also List 29, Reading List for the
College-Bound and List 31, Adult Great Books Reading Program.
The Assistant-Bernard Malamud. Novel about drifter who has difficulty changing.
Atlas Shrugged-Ayn Rand. Novel about technology and its impact in America.
Above Suspicion-Helen MacInnes. Suspense novel.
The Ambassadors -Henry James. Novel of old and new world culture clashes.
Andersonville-MacKinlay Kantor. Novel about life in a prison camp during Civil War.
Birdy-William Wharton. Novel about Vietnam veteran and his buddy.
Black Dance in America. A History Through Its People --James Haskins. History of
African-American dance.
Bonjour Tristesse-Francoise Sagan. Novel about teenager who tries to block her father's
marriage.
Call It Sleep-Henry Roth. Novel set in New York about a Jewish child living in ghetto.
The Care of Time-Eric Ambler. Story of CIA agent and Persian Gulf sheikh.
Christmas at Fontaines -William Kotzwinkle. Novel about loneliness, set in New York.
A Concise History ofModern Painting-Herbert Reed. History of modern painting.
Darkness Over the Valley -Wendelgard von Staden. Biography of German girl who
helps concentration camp victims.
A Death in China-William Montalbano and Carl Hiaasen. Novel about an art teacher in
China.
The Family of Women -Richard Peck. Novel of six women from early days to World
War II.
Fahrenheit 451 -Ray Bradbury. Futuristic society where reading and thinking are crimes.
Fools of Fortune -William Trevor. Twentieth-century historical novel about Ireland.
The French Lieutenant's Woman --John Fowles. Historical fiction about woman in
Victorian England.
Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon --Jorge Amado. Love story set in Brazil.
Gift from the Sea-Ann Morrow Lindbergh. Collection of essays, mostly for women.
Going After Cacciato -Tim O'Brien. Novel about Vietnam War defector.
The Gulag Archipelago -Aleksander Solzhenitsyn. Novel about living in a Russian
labor camp.
Hanta Yo-Ruth Beebe Hill. Novel about two Indian families.
© 1993 by The Center for Applied Research in Education
Section II Books ... For All Ages
28. Continued
Helliconia Spring-Brian Aldiss. Science fiction novel.
The History of Tom Jones-Henry Fielding. Rags to riches story.
A House for Mr. Biswas-V. S. Naipaul. Novel about a poor man in Trinidad.
I, Claudius-Robert Graves. Historical fiction about stammering Claudius, Roman
emperor.
The Joy Luck Club -Amy Tan. Chinese-American woman understands how mother's
early life separated them.
Just Looking. Essays on Art-John Updike. Views on artists, art, and children~s
book illustrations.
Kristin Lavransdatter (3 Volumes)-Sigrid Undset. Three novels about woman and
her family, set in Norway.
The Last of the Just-Bart Andre Schwarz. Novel about persecution of Jews.
Learning to Look: A Handbook for the Visual Arts --Joshua Taylor. Shows how to
go about appreciating the visual arts.
Lie Down in Darkness -William Styron. Novel about the descent of a southern
family.
Lucky Jim-Kingsley Amis. Novel about English teacher trying to better his position.
Man's Fate -Andre Malraux. Novel about revolutionaries in Communist China up
rising.
Messengers of God: Biblical Portraits and Legends-Elie Wiesel. Accounts of
Biblical characters from the Old Testament.
The Metamorphosis -Franz Kafka. Allegorical story of man changed into an insect.
The Moon by the Water-Pamela Belle. Romantic, historical fiction, set in Eliza
bethan England.
The Mosquito Coast-Paul Theroux. Novel about a New England family resettling in
Honduras.
My Place -Sally Morgan. Biography of an aborigine from Australia.
The Name of the Rose -Umberto Eco. Historical fiction about murder in a monastery.
Necessity-Brian Garfield. Science fiction about woman on the run.
Nectar in a Sieve -Kamala Markandaya. Novel about peasants and poverty in India.
One Hundred Years of Solitude -Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Lives of Buendia family
and beginning/end of the mythical town of Macondo.
Ordinary People -Judith Guest. Novel about girl's life after trying to commit suicide.
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek -Annie Dillard. Collection of essays.
Scent of Cloves -Norah Lofts. Historical novel.
A Second Flowering. Works and Days of the Lost Generation -Malcolm Cowley.
Collection of essays by famous writers.
The Shadow Man-John Lutz. Murder story about man with several personalities.
Slaughterhouse 5-Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Novel about World War II firebombing of
Dresden and its effect on an American prisoner of war.
© 1993 by The Center for Applied Research in Education
Section II Books ... For All Ages
28. Continued
Sound-Shadows of the New World -Ved Mehta. Biography of 15-year-old blind boy's
adjustment to a new culture.
Steppenwolf-Hermann Hesse. Novel revolving around man's conflict with materialism.
Stories for Ibarra -Harriet Doerr. American Book Award Winner about Americans moving
to Mexico.
The Story of Philosophy -Will Durant. Philosophic ideas of prominent philosophers.
The Sword Is Forged-Evangeline Walton. Historical novel.
The Tin Drum-GUnther Grass. Novel set before, during, and after WWII in Poland and
Germany.
The Trial-Franz Kafka. Novel about man arrested on unknown charges.
Ties of Blood and Silver-Joel Rosenberg. Science fiction novel about a thief.
Under 35. The New Generation of American Poets-Nicholas Christopher. A varied
collection of poems by young American poets.
The Wanderer-Henri Alain-Fournier. French novel about first love.
War and Peace -Leo Tolstoy. Novel about the Napoleonic War.
Welcome Chaos-Kate Wilhelm. Science fiction story of espionage.
What to Listen for in Music -Aaron Copeland. Shows how to gain an understanding of what
you hear.
The Woman in the Dunes -Kobo Abe. Novel about woman battling against the sand.
A World of Strangers -Nadine Gordimer. Novel about man from England and embittered
South African.
A Wreath for Udumo-Peter Abrahams. Novel about man working for freedom against
colonialism.
The Young Lions -Irwin Shaw. Novel about two Americans and a Nazi during World War II.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance -Robert M. Pirsig. Philosophic musings;
during motorcycle trip.
© 1993 by The Center for Applied Research in Education